Yankees hitting coach Dillon Lawson fired
NEW YORK — In his twenties as general manager of the Yankees Brian Cashman never fired a coach during a season in 2016 and believes all performances should pass 117 game samples for evaluation. This time, he had seen enough.
Hitting coach Dillon Lawson was relieved after Sunday’s 7-4 loss to the Cubs at Yankee Stadium as the Yankees continue to rank near the bottom of the league in numerous offensive categories.
“I’m here in an organization that often makes changes during the season. It ‘This is not my business during my tenure as general manager, I loved that,” Cashman said. “But at the same time, when you feel like you have to do it, you do it and face it, give it your all.”
Cashman says Lawson’s successor will come from outside the organization , assistant hitting coaches Kathy Dykers and Brad Wilkerson will remain on the team in their current roles.
The chief hitting coach position has not been offered to anyone, according to Cashman, who said he is putting together an internal list of candidates. Cashman intends to announce the hiring before the Yankees start the second half of the regular season in Colorado on Friday.
“There1 this is an opportunity,” Cashman said. “I believe we do have more capable players to find higher positions than in the first half. I ‘ I am looking for a unique personality that can blend and connect with this group of players as well as some of the players on my current injured list “
Cashman, who oversees the MLB draft in Tampa, Fla., said he spoke with managing general partner Halstein Brenner by phone Saturday. During that conversation, Cashman suggested a change, and Steinbrenner agreed.
The timeline suggests that the Yankees’ 3-0 loss to the Cubs on Friday night may have been the final straw. On the night, New York was tied in eight innings by right-hander Jameson Taillon, who went into the game with a six. 42 ERA ( ERA), the highest pitcher in the majors
this year or more innings.
Scoring has been an issue all season for the Yankees, who end up with 49-26 set a record for fourth in the AL East, eight games behind the division-leading Rays. Overall, the Yankees are near the bottom of the league in batting average (.117 — Parallel 21th), click (162 — 14th) and Hitting Percentage(.49 — Section).
“Since I We’ve been here we’ve been producing a high level of offensive output,” Cashman said. “It’s been a completely different year. Ultimately, the end result is not what we expected from the Yankees DNA ‘ Get used to watching.”
Their numbers have suffered since Aaron Judge lost the game with a sprained right big toe. dealt a more serious blow. they are- Lowest batting average since Judge hit right field wall at Dodger Stadium on June 3rd (.93), Minimum Hitting Percentage(.288) and the third least run (49) in the majors during this period.
“I want to give things a chance to work out, but I’ll be honest, at this point, it’s will not improve — at least for now,” Cashman said. “It does not Doesn’t mean the offense can’t Organically it’s not getting better, but I feel like we with the new courier, the service will be even better.”
Lawson,17 , was the Yankees’ fifth hitting coach last year years, following the appointment of Kevin Long (690-), Jeff Pentland (2015), Alan Cockerell (690-26)) and Marcus Thames (2016 -).
He spent his first three seasons with the organization (2015-) As the Yankees’ minor league hitting coordinator, he popularized the “hit hard” mantra. Before joining the Yankees, Lawson spent two seasons with the Astros as hitting coach for the Single-A Quad Cities 2016 and the short-season single-A three cities).
“I don’t Don’t think Dillon can’t cannot be a consistently successful major league coach,” Cashman said. “I think it’s part of the growing process and the learning curve. We’re still looking at his world, and we know what he’s capable of, but I just think at this time and place, we’re better off moving forward by changing.”
2018
